Improvement in lasting-machines



H. G. THOMPSON.

LastngMaohn-e.

No'. 203,673. Patented May14,1s7s.

Win-lessee..-

UNITED 'STATES PATENLQrneE-r HENRY@ THOMPSON, :O F MILFORD. CONNECTICUT-, f

V||v|leovswilarar IANVfLAsTlNe-MAGHINES.

Speciiicationforming part ofLetters Patent No. 203,673, dated May 14, 1878; application. filed Novemberi, 1877. A

To all whom it may concern: f l

Beit known that I, HENRY G. THOMPSON, of Milford, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented .an Improved Lasting-Machine, Aof which the follow-V ing is a specification: i l

This invention has reference to mechanism for lasting shoes and boots, and is an improvement on the mechanism shown in United States Patents Nos. 193,446 and 193,445. Y

f In` this present invention, as in such patents, thenails-or tacks are or. will preferably be driven by .means of the'well-known magnetic tacker. t l

' In Patent No. 193,446 the crimping jaws or pullers are shown as held down upon the maf terial, bothl when being moved forward and when the tacks are being driven, by means of a curved,leaf-spring. With such a spring the edges of the upper will sometimes slip when the Atacks are -beingdriven, and the spring has to be adjustedfor diierentsized shoes.

To overcome the objections incident to the use of the crimping jaws or pullers andspring referred to, and insure .that the jaws hold the upper firmly when the tacks'are being driven, and to place the amountlof strain to4 be put upon the upperlthat being according to the material) completelyunder the control of the operator, I -have pivoted thecriinping jaws or pullers upon a vertically-adjustable slide, with Vwhich I havev combined an adjustingleveri'and locking. device, to raise or lower the pivot of the jaws, and lock such pivotlwith reference'tothe level ofthe sole of'thefshoe. O11 this .slide I have placed-a plate-adjusting device, to adapt the' undersurface of the jaws 'or pullers `to the inclination orcurve of the last. To .last the sides and shank of the shoe I have iprovidedaseries of lingers, to move substantially horizontally `over the last-bottom, :and a'series of shankssprings,'to bear npon'the upper at the sides of the last, one pair of such springs resting on theupper opposite and'outside of'the corner of the heelstiftener, thereby crowding it well and snugly into the curve-of the shank.. These side and shank lasting devices' are made both vertically and'longitudinally adjustable, toadapt .them

different-sized shoes. l nniigure l'represents,fin side elevation, a suf- Vflcient portion of a lasting'head to illustrate. lmyinvention Fig. 2, an end view thereof, viewing it from the right of Fig. 1; Fig.'3,` a! detail, showing the device for holding the jaws upon ,their axes or 'ulcra.` Fig. 4- showssa top,

'lasting jaws being omitted, as the jaws at each endof the head are alike.

The socket a, thepivoted supporting-plate b, the crimping jaws or pullers c, and the lever d and its connections, toy movethe jaws forward and open` and close them,are as in'Pat;

h, is made longitudinally adjustabiein the' head by means` of screw i, provided with a thumb-nut, j, in order to adapt thejaws-to shoes ofl different lengths. The supporting plate b, instead of being pivoted at its rear end, as in the patent cited, is pivoted at-or near its forward end, at l1., to the vertically-adjustable plate-carryingslidel,1itted to be'raised and lowered with reference to the post f, by which it is guided. I j' The screw m, operating upon the rear end ofthe plate b, places the under ysides of the crimping jaws or pullers c at ythe propernclination with reference to the toe or .heel of the last, according to its curvature. The plate-- carrying `slide lis provided with screw-threads toreceive a screw, n, held in a sleeve, o, provided with a thumb-nut, 19, by which the supporting-plate b andv jaws may be, quickly adjusted inheightto place ithe jaws onthe proper( level with relation to the bottomof the last.- x: i L The slideadj usting lever q, aorooked lever, '.pivoted at r-toahanger, s, of the carriage e, has its short arm 2 connected, by asmall link, .3,with1the slide at 4, so as to move it and the jaws vertically, to lift them' above or force them' down upon the; shoe being lasted with more or less force. The handle or longend of this lever q is provided with part of the lockingdvice. This lockingV device, in this instance, is composedof a rod, 5,a spring, 6, to d which is iitted the kfinger-carrying4 slide w,

having ears 10, to which are pivoted the arms 11, provided at top with fingers 12, adapted to be passed from the outside of the last horizontally, or nearly so, across the edge of the.

last, toward the central line of the last-bottom. These fingers are preferably made of lspringsteel, and are preferably so'held as to be ad-V justed up and down and laterally with .refer,

ence to the arms and last, andv also so as to be turned axially to adapt them to the curves of the last; but l desire it to be understood that I do not claim such adjustment of these iin! gers, i

One arm, 11, has pivoted to it one end of a link,.13, and the opposite end of such link is connected with the short end of a hand-lever, 14., pivoted at 15. The arms are operated 'to move the ngers over the last byv means of this lever. When the handle of this lever is inzits lowermost position the arms 11 are held locked, and the fingers are over the last. The arms` 11 are' also provided with upper-pressing springs 16 17, to meetthe side of the upper, press it firmly against the side of the last, and place the upper yin proper condition to be crowded over bythe iingers, when, as the arms are closed, the iingers subsequently crowd the edge of the upper over onto the inner sole at thesides and shank of the-shoe. The pair of springs 17 bear upon the upper at such a point as to also crowd the inner corners of the heel-stiffening, held` between the upper and lining, into the curved portion of the shank, so that such stiffener yis also correctlydrawn in and lasted, and will not project out and form a shoulder at the shank.

This finger-carrying slide fw is made verti callyadjustable, to accommodate the nngers to the level of the shoe by means of a screw,- 18, held in a lug, 19, the screw fitting a nut, 20, on the slide, while for' the length. of the shoe the adjustment is made by the screw u.'

The perforated crimpingjaws have their fulcra on a stud, 21, undercut at its edges, as in Fig. 2, to receive the portion 22 of a holding-plate, 23, also provided with a spring-pin, 24(see Fig. 3,) to enter a slot inthe top of the stud 21.

The holding-plate takes the place of a nut, and when removed, as mayeasily bev done, permits the removal of the jaws from the stud 221. Such jaws, in this instance, are made en.- tirely of spring-steel.

Operation: The upper is first placed over the last, and held by means of one or more tacks'each iat the toe, heel, and sides. Then the'upperand last are placedin position on the usual lastholding pin in the head, the toe of the last and upper meeting the toe-rest, as shown in dotted lines.

The carriage y sustaining the crimping jaws or pullers and the slide carrying the iingers are then adjusted horizontally and vertically to proper positionwith kreference to a shoe of the length and size upon which they are to operate. The jaws in such adjusted position will be elevated, so that their pivotal points will occupy a position in a plane one-fourth to three-eighths of an inch higher than the plane which the outer or free ends of the jaws will occupy when resting upon the upper edges of the last at toe and heel, as hereinafter de scribed.

'Assumingthat the 'operator'has his left hand uponv the adjusting and locking lever q, and his right hand on the lever d, for moving forward and closing the jaws, he willl 'with one hand iirstthrow back the adjusting-lever q, so as'to elevatethe ends of the jaws on a I line with the last, and with his other hand he willI thenz move lever d to close the jaws until their downwardly-curved pointsor ends rest on the upper at the edge of the'last. In this positionl the curved portions m2 of the jaws will be 'elevated somewhat above the extreme end of .the last. `Then the operator will re verse the movement of lever q to press the slide l down until the ends and inner curved edges of the jaws press down upon the-upper; about the entire ends of the last, heel and toe, after which he will roperate the-handle or lever d, and movethe crimping jaws or pullersfor: ward over the last, they at the same time closing together and wiping the edges of the up` per snugly about the last.

The edge of the upper is most fulled or crimped at the points of greatest curvature of the last-viz., the'extreme toe and heel.

`The portion m2 of the jaws, near their fulcra, meet these heel and toeportions, and, being made of spring-steel, are allowed to yield back to their fulcra, which would not be the case were the ends of the jaws' held in cast-iron blocks, as heretofore. y

These jaws 'c of spring-steel, curved from their outer ends to their fulcra, are adapted to bear firmly at all points on the upper below them, and spring or yield to the thickness of the crimp or plait without tearing ,thef stock.`

.When the jaws are moved forward and closed, the operator, previous to tacking, will give the lever q an extra pull to ,lower the position of ,the jaws, or crowdzthem down with additional force upon the edges of the shoeg upper so turned over, and such lever, locked by the locking devices, will hold the-upper firmly under pressure and strain while the tacks are driven into the upper and inner sole.

It is obvious that the amount of strain upon the upper and the closeness of 'its t to the last will dependupon the force withv which the jaws are pressed down as they are moved forward and closed. This final pressure by the downward movement of the slide l after the jaws are closed maybe in excess of the pressure that the upper would stand while the jaws were being moved forward.

rEhe looking devices may be modified without departing from this invention.

I claim- 1. Crimping jaws or pullers to draw over and plait in the uppers of boots and shoes, in combination with an adjusting-lever and locking devices for elevating and depressing the jaws and looking the same fast at any desired position.

2. In combination, the crimping jaws or pullers, the pivoted supporting-plate and its carrying-slide, a lever to adj ust the jaws and plate vertically, and locking devices to hold them in adj usted position, substantially as set forth. A

3. The crimping jaws or pullers andsupporting plate, pivoted at its inner end, in combination with an adjusting device or screw to turn the plate on its pivot to adjust the jaws or pullers to conform to the shape of the last.

4. In combination, crimping jaws or pullers to draw over and plait in the uppers of boots and shoes, the supporting-plate, pivoted at its inner end, the set-screw or equivalent to adjust the outer end of the plate to give to the pullers any desired elevation or depression requisite to conform the same to the shape of the last, and devices to adjust the position of the jaws vertically and laterally.

5. The combination, in a lasting-machine, of the following instrumentalities, viz: an adjustable pivoted supporting-plate, crimpingjaws,'mechanism to reciprocate the jaws longitudinally and to close them as they move forward, and an adj usting-lever adapted to be operated to press the forwardly-moving jaws down upon the upper, so that the pullers bear with a yielding pressure upon the upper while the tacks are being driven, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the head h of the machine, adapted to be supported on a swiv- 8. In alasting-machine provided with shanklasting mechanism, the combination, with the head carrying such shank-lasting mechanism, of a horizontally-movable frame, a verticallymovable slide, and devices to move and adjust such frame and slide horizontally and vertically to simultaneously placethe shoe and the shanklasting mechanism in operative po sition according to the size of the shoe.

' 9. In combination, the finger-carrying slide, the arms and fingers, and link and lever to close and open the arms, to operate .substantially as described.

10. The jaws curved downward from their fulcra to their points or ends, in order that when pressed down upon the shoe by the ad justing-lever the jaws will yield to permit the entire inner curved portion of both jaws to act with a yielding pressure while they draw over and t the upper to the conguration of the last. Y

1l. Crimping jaws or pullers made entirely of sheet spring-steel, and curved, as described, from their front ends to their fulcra, to adapt them selves to the folded-over edges of the upper at the toe and heel o f the last, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

'HENRY G. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

G. WV. GREGORY, W. J. PRATT. 

